3XK Returns
by castlefan51
Summary: 3XK has returned...will Kate and Rick figure out his next move before its too late?
1. Chapter 1

The silence in the room was only broken by the eerie song coming from the speakers.

We'll meet again...

Don't know where, don't know when

Beckett was looking into Castle's eyes and he noticed that she was really shaken, almost to the point of tears. The song that she was hearing was all she could think about. All Beckett could focus on were the memories of much her dad had listened to this song after her mom had died.

Castle moved forward to catch Kate because her knees had suddenly given out. Castle helped her to the couch, and after she sat down, he started talking about how the case closely followed the two murder victims that looked exactly like Lanie and Espo.

"The only thing that I don't get is how Dr. Neiman is connected to Jerry Tyson", he said, as Kate composed herself on the couch.

"Do you remember, back when we first met Neiman in her office?" he asked

"Why do you ask?" she answered, still more than a little shaken.

"Recall that she tried to give me a pen. There must have been some significance there. I just know it. Could that have somehow been a connection between Neiman and the Lanie look-alike? There must have been one." Castle said, laying his racing thoughts out for Beckett.

"Castle, I don't think so. You're overthinking the whole pen thing, how could that have been a connection?" Beckett said. Castle took the criticism in stride and said nothing, but continued thinking about that pen. There had to be something... he thought

* * *

Ryan and Espo, meanwhile, were following their investigation as it led them to an older building in lower Manhattan, just north of Vessy Street. It was some kind of garage, crumbling in some places, and with graffitti on one side. It appeared to be the headquarters of a limosine company. They approached a man who was clearly a dispatcher.

"Excuse me! Detectives Ryan and Esposito, NYPD. We have a few questions for you." Espo said forcefully, as he and Ryan put their badges away.

"Detectives, huh? What do you want?" The man replied. He didn't look very intimidated, but Ryan saw no sign that he wouldn't cooperate.

"Have you seen this man?" Ryan asked, as he opened his coat and took out a picture of 3XK.

"Oh, yeah, I remember him. He looks just like a guy renting office space on the second floor. Except he has a mustache now, and a kind of goatee-thing. Looked like trouble to me, we don't talk much" The dispatcher said.

"Perfect, you've been a big help" Espo said, and then they headed up the stairs. They swept the second floor, but found nothing but chipped walls, dirty floors, and a rat in one of the rooms. 3XK was nowhere in sight. The last room they checked turned out to be the office the dispatcher told them about. There was wire all over the place, and little bits of electronic hardware scattered over the desk.

"Beckett." Ryan said into his phone.

"Please tell me you have something" Beckett pleaded

"Uh, yeah, we found an office that 3XK is renting. But..." Ryan started

"What?" Beckett demanded, her interest piqued

"There's a bunch of electrical materials here. Bomb-Making equipment." Ryan said.

"But that doesn't fit Tyson's MO... I'm sending help, just make sure that every single thing in that office gets marked as high priority evidence. Good work." Beckett said before hanging up.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclamer: I do not own anything Castle! Although if I did I'd be so better off!

Jerry Tyson, alias 3XK, was determined. His drive for revenge against Castle and Beckett knew no bounds, and the fact that his plan was about to come to fruition was but a small comfort. His alleged death by the hands of Castle that fateful night on the bridge was but another step in his grand plan. Tyson had staggered over the edge of the bridge. The wind rushed past his face, but he righted himself before splashing into the water. It stung, but Tyson wasn't about to let something as base as pain get in his way, not now.

He resurfaced, kicking his legs in the murky East River. Tyson collected his re-breather from the base of the bridge support, which had been placed there yesterday. Tyson steeled himself against the freezing waters and dove, not surfacing again until he had reached the opposite bank.

"There you are. I was worried" said Dr. Neiman, as she helped him out of the river.

"Everything went according to plan, just as I thought" Tyson said, shivering from the cold air which was only accentuated by the wet clothes clinging to him.

"Good. Here, take off those wet clothes and get into something warm, and dry." Nieman said. "I don't want you getting sick or anything"

Tyson nodded, and removed his shirt to reveal a Kevlar vest. Two of the six shots fired by Castle on the bridge had found their mark, but the vest successfully stopped them before they could do any damage. He shed the vest and gratefully changed into the spare set of clothes Nieman offered him.

Tyson waited. Almost a year passed from that encounter on the bridge, and his plan was coming together perfectly. The theft of the files from the Chief M.E., in addition to the files from the 12th that he got his hands on granted him a lot more creative freedom in plotting his revenge.

* * *

Jim Beckett had always been health conscious, especially when it came to his heart. He knew that his father had a history of heart trouble, and made sure to take care of his. Jim liked to walk around Central Park, occasionally jogging, and sometimes going to the gym. However, he could not have been prepared for the stress that was headed his way, and the one-two punch of the death of his wife and Kate getting shot was too much. The crisp autumn air of Central Park was broken, and as he put his right foot down there was a sudden pain in his chest. It was sharp and he couldn't even keep on his feet. Luckily, a passing jogger saw him fall, and dialed 911

"Give me the facts, whats wrong with him?" Neiman asked of the paramedic as they wheeled the man into the hospital

"Male, mid 50's, apparent heart attack. He flat lined twice on the ride here." The EMT said

"Prep the OR, we'll need to operate on his heart" Neiman ordered an orderly. "Who's the patient?"

"Uh... A Jim Beckett, according to his wallet"

Neiman's eyes lit up. Tyson would want to know about this.


	3. Chapter 3

Enter Dr. Kelly Nieman. She was on her the third rotation of her internship and was still deciding to go into plastics or cardiology. Both specialties had the challenges that she would love to pursue. Jim Beckett was her patient and she was a great doctor to him. All his medical needs were taken care of by her. He was the only patient that she wanted to see all the way back to full health. Explaining to Jim that surgery would need to be scheduled for the following day but he was stable now and there was nothing to worry about, if there was a problem during the night there was a defibrillator placed on his chest to automatically get his heart back into a rhythm if he had an incident.

Jerry Tyson was so excited by the news of Beckett's father being under Dr. Niemans care that he already had something that would involve the good doctor. Knowing that Jim Beckett was her patient he could finally execute the last and deadly part of his plan to finally bring pain and suffering to Castle and Beckett. Moving to his makeshift workshop, he started his devious task.

Jim Beckett was released from the hospital two weeks later and was better than new. He needed to adhere to a specific diet and also start a daily exercise plan because his heart had an irregular heart beat, the pacemaker had been installed to keep his heart beating with a regular rhythm. When she came home after her rotation that day she told Jerry Tyson about her day. Mr. Beckett's surgery went off without a hitch. It took about 2 hours to install his pacemaker.

3XK was always one to inflict the most damage to his victims with very minimal action, he thought about every possible outcome of any move he would make. Kate and Rick knew this and were thinking where or when he would make his final attack on them. But they kept coming back to that pen with the external drive and the song on it. It had to be a clue, they just did not know what it was.


	4. Chapter 4

It was a really beautiful day outside, the sun was shining and the threat of rain was not forecast until Friday. Rick and Kate were sitting outside in midtown café drinking lattes it was six months since hearing the song 3XK had left them. They both knew that the other shoe was going to drop but neither knew where or when. This bothered Castle more than ever knowing that Jerry Tyson had gotten away twice and he got away with every possible file connecting him and Kelly Nieman to any of his or her crimes. Kate threw a wave to her dad as he was walking up the street. They had started to meet at this café on a regular basis catching up on what was going on in their lives, if there was a case that they were working on that was giving them trouble sometimes and with Jim's law training he had helped them with a way to get around a dead end line of questioning. Kate loved these moments with her dad as he was always trying to help.

3XK had his spotting binoculars trained on Jim Beckett as he walked up the street. He saw Kate as she waved to him and he knew that it was time to set his final plan into motion. Without hesitation, he had his finger on a small key fob device. When he pushed the button this was the beginning of the end for Jim Beckett. He watched as he stopped mid-step and fall to the ground clutching his chest. Kate jumped up from the table and ran to her dads side. Castle was looking in the other direction and did not see what had happened to Jim. Turning around and seeing what had happened he dialed 911 for an ambulance giving the dispatcher all the information he could. He rushed over to where Kate was holding her father, not knowing what else to do, so he tried to make them both as comfortable as he could.

It seemed like an eternity before the ambulance had arrived. Castle ran over to the rig and assisted the medics with the stretcher. Rolling it over to the scene, he was heartbroken at what he was witnessing. Kate was now officially an orphan. Sure she was a grown woman but losing both parents in such a short time was nothing he could imagine. He would be silent and not try to pry into anything about what had happened to her today but, he would just wait for her to open up to him. Giving any and all of his support to her.


	5. Chapter 5

The ambulance ride was one of the longest of her life. Kate was hoping that she would not loose two parents in such a short time. Castle had never known the loss of his father being that he never had him when he was growing up. Looking at the two of them holding each others hands, he said a small prayer. The EMT's were working on Jim to keep him alive until they reached the hospital, but their efforts would be for nothing. Jerry Tyson had seen to that. By the time, they reached the emergency room the EMT had been doing CPR on him for the last 18 minutes Kate had held on hope that he could be resuscitated. The ER doctor had given Kate and Castle the devastating news and offered them his condolences. On the day, his girl told him that Mr. Beckett was her patient he had designed a pacemaker that had a very small explosive device installed in it. When he activated the explosive with the key fob his revenge would be complete. This was also true for Dr. Nieman. She was now a liability and had to be dealt with. Sure she would be missed but with the crimes she had committed in Florida the police would not put that much effort in trying to find out what had happened to her.

Walking into their small 2 bedroom apartment in a very secluded part of New York she had the N.Y. Post folded back to the article about their latest crime that they had pulled off. Tyson was sitting at the table constructing something and she thought is could possibly be for another victim. To her surprise he turned towards her and at the same time he was raising what he had made. It was a razor sharp mini harpoon. Firing it with such accuracy she never knew what had hit her, the projectile entered her right eye socket and for such a small weapon it pushed her back against the wall and stuck her head to the door jamb. With her body going limp within seconds, now came the task of disposing of her body. He decided to hack her into small 2 foot sections, fill a 55 gallon drum with sodium hydroxide and water. This process would take about 3 weeks to reduce her flesh and bones to soup.

Lanie had been given the job to perform an autopsy on Kate s dad. She was the only one Kate trusted with completing this job. Lanie thought everything was going to be routine with his autopsy until she had opened his chest cavity and the only thing she could do was gasp at the damage that had been done by the miniature explosive device. Noting all the irregular damage she was not too sure to go directly to Kate with this news. Lanie called Castle and asked him to meet her at the morgue. When he arrived he was told what had happened to Jim. He was going to be the one to give Kate the news about what had happened and how they would move forward from there. There was no way around what Castle had felt, this was the other shoe coming down and it came down hard.


	6. Chapter 6

After Castle hung the phone up he could tell by Lanie's tone that there was something wrong with her autopsy. When she wanted both him and Kate to come to the morgue to talk with her, Castle thought otherwise. Maybe it was when they had first met she had built up walls around her emotions and her heart when her mother had died and he thought she would do just that again, after all she had just gotten into a comfortable frame of mind and he did not want to have her start building walls again and lose her all over again. So Castle moved quietly off the bed and across the bedroom and opened the door. Kate was still asleep and he wanted to give her all the rest she needed so he closed the door and headed down to the morgue to see Lanie on his own. On the way to the morgue, he had wondered what Lanie had found with Jim's autopsy then the writer in him took over his thoughts.

After paying the cabbie he went down to where he had been many times before, but this time it had a different meaning. Swinging the door open, he was surprised to see Ryan, Espo &amp; Detective Rodriguez. His heart almost stopped…. Lanie "what's going on here"?

He was curious, and a little pissed off that she had called the other detectives to talk with her. Lanie was upset with Castle and had asked him why he did not bring Kate… and he explained that she has lost both her parents and she needed time to get her mind right with what happened yesterday. She understood two things then, 1st Castle had her best interests in his heart and he had another motive.

The three detectives and Castle listened to Lanie when she gave then the news. Other than the start of an ulcer, Jim Becketts autopsy was mostly normal, …until Lanie had made a very small discovery in his chest cavity. After running some tests that specifically looked for any type of explosive residue she had found that someone had added just the right amount of a liquid explosive to what was left of his pacemaker and puncture a hole the size of a dime in the heart.

Espo asked what type of liquid explosive it could have been and all Lanie could say is that it was almost untraceable after it was ignited. The first thing Castle could think of was the case he and Beckett had worked together with agent Shaw. The serial killer Dunn had used cyclonite to level Beckett's apartment. He asked if this could have been the explosive used on Jim, but all Lanie could do was shake her head yes.

Ryan had asked Lanie if there was a way to trace the pacemaker to find out who had performed the surgery and installed it into Jim's chest. Lanie told them that it would take a couple of hours, but she would let them know when she did.

There was a reason that all the detectives were there in the morgue and Castle was going to find out now…they had determined that 3XK was the person behind the file thefts and Jim's murder. Castle was a bit stunned that this was the case. They had come up with a plan to draw 3XK out to bring him to justice…..


	7. Chapter 7

The reason Jim Beckett would listen to that song after his wife had died was because this song was the one thing that connected him to her. There was a connection between that particular song and how Jim had died. There was just no way that Beckett and Castle could connect the clues and get 3XK so for now his revenge was complete..or so he thought!

Kate was looking down at her father lying there on the ER bed. Her memories brought her back to the airport hanger where Captain Montgomery was shot and had died. She was in another world.

Kate...Kate...Rick was calling her, but he got no response.

He called her one more time and finally got an angry response "what is it Castle?"

Castle knew from her tone of voice that this was not good. she was heading back down the rabbit hole. He thought to himself that she was doing so good putting her mom behind her and now she will start with the loss of her father. This was going to be hard on her. He thought that this was something that would never get her back from the edge.

Since they were in mid-town, the detectives were from mid-town south. Beckett had called them personally she wanted a complete investigation into her dads case. She thought something was so very, very wrong about how her Dad had died. Castle pulled the lead detective aside and asked can you keep me in the loop about how this investigation is coming along?

His name was Rodriguez, and he looked at Castle like he was just some onlooker at a crime scene. At first he tried to move him back to the yellow police line until Rick told him to please listen to what he was going to say to him.

Rick knew that this was a bit over the top even for him, so he told the detective what his relationship was with Kate. Detective Jon Rodriguez had gotten the picture from Castle and then he understood what was going on. Rick I will let you know how we are doing with a phone call twice a day he was true to his word and told Castle that he would be his top priority.

This was one thing he did not want Kate to worry about, at least he could control what information he would tell her. He thought this would be selfish, but you see he was in love with this woman and wanted to spare her any further pain and hurt.


	8. Chapter 8

The coroner pulled up in the ME van. Lanie got out and Seeing her waiting by the doorway she said "Kate I am so sorry that this has happened to you" Beckett looked up at Lanie with a look of sadness and fear in her eyes and said Lanie, I know that something went wrong here today with my Dad I don't know exactly what it is, but I will get to the bottom of it! Lanie told Kate she would do the same and find out what happened to her Dad. This put Kate at ease a little bit knowing her best friend was also going to help her.

Just then Castle looked over at Lanie with Kate, he ended his conversation with Detective Rodriguez and walked quickly over to the girls. He was listening to what they were talking about without trying to be noticed. Lanie told Kate that she would keep her up to date if she found anything, but deep in her soul she knew that there was going to be some foul play but did not know where this was going to go. Rick asked Lanie, "please call me with ANY leads you have on Kate's dad's investigation." Lanie was a bit puzzled and asked Castle why she had to go through him, Rick replied Beckett is starting to loose it and I want to control the information she gets so she will be ok while she heals. Lanie was feeling a bit bad about what Castle had asked her to do, but she understood how this could help.

Jim Beckett's body was delivered to the morgue. Lanie was there waiting before he arrived. She made a promise to her best friend and planned on keeping it. She was going to give him the respect he deserved. The autopsy was almost routine, and this lifted her spirits a little. The phone was ringing in her office "hello this is Dr. Parish" it was Kate, I was wondering what you had found out?

Lanie replied "Kate honey I just got him on the table and have not really started working on him yet"

She could feel the Kate s frustration over the phone. She really hated lying to her best friend. After hanging up with Kate, she dialed Castles cell. He answered the phone "Castle" Lanie had told him what she had found already, Her dads autopsy was normal Rick sighed with relief and for once he thought he could give Kate some good news. He was ready to hang up when he heard Lanie yelling his name he had drifted into a daydream of sorts and Lanie's scream brought him out of it, I have some disturbing facts from Jim s blood work and tox screen. Castle wanted to know what it was, but Lanie did not want to give out this information over the phone.

What Castle heard was something that his ears could not believe. There were traces of a very small amount of the explosive that was traversing through Jim Beckett's veins. Over the last 6 months the small trace amounts of cyclonite had worked their way into his blood stream., Castle asked Lanie was there anything else that she noticed that seemed out of the norm? She gave Castle the news that he needed to relay on to Beckett. Lanie had really hated this part, but she needed to let Kate know what she found. It seems that when the cyclonite was put into the pacemaker in solid form after time inside the human body it starts to turn to a liquid state, but there was still enough solid to complete the job. This was the only way that ME had made the connection to 3XK.


	9. Chapter 9

Rick had always known that Kate was a strong person, but the news Lanie had told him really made him rethink how strong she really was. Jim Beckett was used as a pawn in Castle and Beckett's life. He now knew that 3XK was the person behind what happened to Kate's father.

Castle, Espo &amp; Ryan were in the conference room at the 12th With all of them together he started what may be the hardest conversation he had ever started. I have positive proof that 3XK was involved in Kate's dad's murder Ryan and Espo were surprised but not all that much. Ryan wanted to know they could help him and Castle said I have a plan, but I am not too sure you two want to put your necks on the chopping block, If you do then getting our plan executed from start to finish could get us all dead, and definitely get your asses brought up on disciplinary charges if we get caught. With no hesitation, they both agreed to help Castle.

Castle was not too sure on how to proceed with this plan. He knew he had the support of Espo and Ryan, they would give anything to catch 3XK, but what he was asking could get them both killed. The trick was going to be to get Jerry Tyson to take the bait. While Castle was trying to put a plan together his cell phone rang Castle he answered annoyed, It was Detective Rodriquez "Detective Rodriquez to what do I owe the honor" Castle listened intently to what he was telling him.

Jon Rodriquez had seen a lot of terrible crime scenes during the 9 years he was on the force. He knew why Castle had asked to spare Kate the shock of why her father was murdered. But he also knew the other side of the crime that led people to take matters into their own hands. He had a feeling that this is what Castle was going to do. So Mister Castle I only have 1 question for you "What do you have planned for the 3XK killer ?" Castle dropped his cell phone and hoped that when he picked it up that the detective would have hung up by then. To his surprise he was still on the other end.

Castle tried to play it off, "Why Detective what ever made you think of something like that?"

"Mr Castle I have been pouring over the case files that Detective Beckett sent over from her own personal 3XK files and from what I've read this seems like the only logical path that you would take." Castle did not what to say, he was a writer and he now drew a blank in his mind. Rodriquez told Castle to assemble his partners and meet him at the morgue. They would get everything settled there.

Ryan, Espo, Castle &amp; Detective Rodriquez were all assembled in the morgue an hour later. Lanie looked on at them but could not hear what they were saying. Lanie hated that were not including Kate in their meeting, she was the reason that they were all there. She knew they were planning something big. Then she had a brilliant idea, the guys were talking right under the microphone that was by the autopsy table #3. She went into her office and switched on the microphone and let it do its job.

After about an hour and a half the men had concluded their meeting and headed out to their homes, it was almost 11:30 pm.

Kate was fast asleep when Castle got back to the loft, but woke to a start when Castle locked the front door "Is everything ok Babe" Kate asked a little concerned. Rick told her everything was fine and to get some sleep, he did not like to keep anything from her but this was an exception.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The Plan was a complex one, one that had to be executed with military precision, and at the same time one that Jerry Tyson never knew what it was that was going to hit him head on. Castle was going to need to do a lot of convincing to Espo and Rodriguez due to the fact that Castle had never served in the armed forces. The both of them were decorated highly from their time in the service and Castle was only an outsider. Sure they had a brotherhood between them and Rick wanted to be a part of it, so he would do whatever it took.

Ryan and Rodriguez had been down near the 1st precinct trying to find a good location to trap 3XK. There was no good tactical location here so they moved up to Central Park. The plan was not to let Kate know what was in the works. Castle thought that if she know there was going to possibly be bloodshed then she could possibly be the target and 3XK was so very unpredictable.

What Castle and company did not know is that Lanie went behind the quartets backs and let Kate hear the tapes that she recorded in the morgue. Lanie asked Kate do you think you are going to be safe by going after 3XK while they might have a plan in the works ? Kate replied I am sure that our plans won't jeopardize each other, but I am not one to put all my eggs in one basket.

Ryan and Rodriguez thought they had found the perfect location to lure Jerry Tyson out into the open and corner him like the rat bastard he is. Ryan called Espo and Castle together and discussed what they had found out. While the boys were talking Kate had decided that she was too going to take out Jerry Tyson in her own way just in case the boys had failed. She would lay her badge and career on the line if she needed to. The guys had most of the plan laid out they were going to use a female undercover who looked a lot like Dr. Nieman. She would be the one who would start the plan off. Her job was to call 3XK and tell him (as Dr. Nieman) that she needed to escape the city in fear of being caught because the entire NYPD was looking for her. She would be waiting at a location that gave the guys a tactical advantage and clear view of the meet site.

The plan was simple, draw 3XK out into the open have Espo hidden in the apartment building across the street on the 15th floor with his XM 2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifle for cover if anything had went wrong, Ryan and Rodriguez would provide cover for the undercover they were using as bait. Castle was in charge of getting everything recorded as evidence. The key was getting him to talk about the two things that would tie him to his latest crimes, murdering Jim Beckett and the theft of the files from the 12th and the M.E.'s office. Hopefully the Detective they were using as a decoy knew her stuff.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The female undercover they had selected for the job was named Natalie. She worked Vice and Narcotics. She was good with the plan that the boys had come up with. She just did not want to let them down she knew about the file thefts and Jim's murder and wanted to prove that she was up for the job. So after meeting the plan was going to go like this...Natalie would be the decoy and lure out Jerry Tyson, Espo would be scanning the meet site protecting them from above. Ryan and Rodriguez would be scouting the meet site on foot close by to provide support for Castle and Natalie. Castle was going to be using the Bionic Ear long Range Listening device with a max range of 1000 meters. It was more than enough to do the job. With everyone knowing their assignments, they would meet up at the Central Park Zoo at 4 pm.

With everything set Espo would take up position in the National Law Enforcement Building, it was a little ironic that a sniper had picked this location to possibly take someone out. The call was made to 3XK and Natalie had moved over to the park bench by the Wollman skating rink. Everyone was in place. It was now or never. Little did anyone of them know that their well-thought plan was doomed from the start. The only problem was that Jerry Tyson had already known that Dr. Kelly Nieman had been predisposed of in a 55 gallon drum filled with chemicals 4 days earlier. He was anticipating the teams every move He knew where Esposito was, as well as Ryan and Rodriguez. He just could not find Castle, he would make an example of the decoy and Castle himself for thinking that they could actually trap him.

45 minuets later entering the park at E.60th street Jerry Tyson moved quickly towards the ice skating rink. Castle had spotted Tyson and Castle radioed Ryan asking if he had spotted Tyson. Ryan transmitted that he did not have a 20 on him. Tyson was dressed in black jeans, a military OD green fatigue jacket with the hood draped over his head. Harder to spot, Ryan looked intently. Rodriquez on the other hand had spotted Tyson a mile away. With all the radio traffic Natalie had a hard time separating the boys from the other operations going on within the park. This would be the only mistake she would make of her career. Tyson had now spotted where Castle was as he walked over to the park bench where Natalie was. Sitting down next to her she was totally taken off guard and before she knew it Tyson had slipped a knife into her side and severed her renal artery When she died she was still sitting on the bench looking forward, like there was nothing wrong. Tyson had stood up and made his way over to Castle, who was trying to hide behind a large oak tree. He would make him pay for trying to be smarter than him. Castle never saw Tyson coming many shots rang out and people who were in that part of the park scattered for cover...


	12. Chapter 12

Tyson's shots had hit their marks. But this time Castle was not wearing a bulletproof vest like the one he was wearing a year and a half ago on the bridge above the east river. Still standing Castle had not realized that he had been hit yet. Kate had watched the whole operation go down hill right after Tyson murdered Natalie. She rushed over to where Castle was by the tree. Rodriquez was giving chase after Tyson along with Ryan. This was not the way the plan should have gone. Kate had seen it from the start only because she was in a well hidden location watching the whole thing unfold in front of her. Getting to Castle, she watched him fall as he finally realized he was shot. Kneeling down by his side assessing his wounds it did not look good in fact she was not sure that he would survive at all. "One-Lincoln-40 to Central" she yelled over her radio, "Go One-Lincoln 40 what is your message" "be advised I have shots fired in the south end of Central Park near Wollman Rink and also have an officer down please respond with an ambulance and additional officers to this location."

"One-Lincoln-40 message received and acknowledged, responding fourth with." Kate looked down at Castles wounds he was hit 5 times 2 rounds went through his upper thigh, one entered his abdomen, the other 2 hit near his sternum but she was not too sure if it damaged anything vital. He looked up at her and tried to say anything but the words never came. Looking into her beautiful hazel eyes he tried to tell her what was going on with the plan but all that came out was a gurgling sound. She was worried because he had already lost a lot of blood, so she applied pressure to his wounds. He was beginning to loose consciousness, but she yelled at him to stay with her. "Castle what were you thinking"? He looked up to her for the last time before his eyes closed and darkness took over him.

It seemed like a lifetime before the first ambulance arrived. Kate was fighting a loosing battle trying to keep Castle from bleeding to death. There was so much blood she just had hoped he was stronger than he looked. Espo had watched in horror as the plan they thought was flawless, was anything but. He could tell that Tyson had got to Natalie, but he was not sure about Castle because of the tree limb cover made it impossible for him to see Castle's position. He radioed Rodriquez and Ryan and let them which way Tyson was fleeing to. Loading up Castle into the ambulance after getting him partially stable they were off to the hospital. Making their way to the hospital after Kate called them telling them that Castle was shot Alexis and Martha were hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Jerry Tyson was a bastard, but Ryan was not going to loose him again. Following close not staying out of his sight he tailed Tyson to an abandoned warehouse uptown. Rodriquez had just arrived and asked Ryan what the situation was...


	13. Chapter 13

Ryan was trying to tell Rodriquez what was going on, but all Espo kept saying "God this is all our fault and Castle might be dead." Getting a bit irritated Kevin yelled at Javi "Espo Can you please shut up!." Even Rodriquez jumped at the tone of his voice. "Thank You" Kevin said. OK so here is what we are going to do...Tyson is hold up in the northwest corner of this warehouse. Espo you and Rodriquez go into the back of the building and try to flush him out to me. I will be waiting in the office spaces in the front of the building. Agreeing that this was the plan they ran to the back of the building entering from two locations they see or hear nothing. Kevin is in position in the front office. Keeping quiet he heard foot steps coming his way. Waiting for the right time to move he did a 3 count and jumped from the desk that he was hiding behind.

If it was not for Rodriquez, Detective Espisito would have been a dead man. Kevin was ready to fire at Tyson, but Rodriquez batted his hand away and the gun went off but the round had hit the floor. "Seriously Ryan?"

"I thought you were Tyson, what happened?"

"He is gone, vanished he must have had a secondary escape route just in case we found him here." Rodriquez was baffled.

"I want CSU down here to go over every square inch of this rat hole," Espo said.

The three men retreated back to their cars. The hospital was the next stop. While on the way to the hospital Ryan's phone rang answering it "Detective Ryan."

"Ryan it's Beckett, can you do me a favor?"

Kevin agrees and asks what it is.

"I need you to go to the loft and pick up Martha and Alexis", "I told them Castle was shot and I don't need them to be worrying about how to get here."

"No Problem I will get them" Pausing a second "Kate, how is he"?

"It's touch and go, he is in surgery and will be there for quite some time." "He coded 3 times in the ambulance." "From what I could gather his wounds to his legs were just through and through flesh wounds" "But its the hits to the abdomen and his chest that the doctor is more concerned with."

"Jesus Kate how many times was he shot?"

"All totaled, five times."

"I am pulling up to the loft right now." "We will be there in about 15 ok"?

"OK, Kevin I will see you when you get here."

Ryan called Alexis and told her that he was in the car across the street. They both came running down and slid into the car, within seconds they were rocketing to the hospital lights and sirens.

Kate hung up the phone with Ryan, turning and standing in front of her were Espo and Rodriquez. "Well, where is he?"

"He's gone not a trace of him," Espo said.

"You've got to be kidding me, right?"

"Well, he's not there in person, but we have CSU going every possible inch of that warehouse." "How is Castle?"

"He's in surgery now but he died 3 times in the ambulance."

They were all such fools, such fools He was right under their noses and they did not even notice him...


	14. Chapter 14

Jerry Tyson could always count on the stupidity of some NYPD detectives. He was listening to Esposito when he asked Beckett how Castle was. Standing there in the hallway within an earshot of the 2 detectives. He blended in so well holding his mop in the bucket no one gave him a second look.

He did exactly what he set out to do. Killed that dumb bitch who thought she knew who she was up against. Boy was she wrong. Then there was Castle he thought he was actually helping them by trying to record him possibly confessing to anything. Again they were mistaken. Castle never knew what hit him he was not taking cover behind anything. He was not passing up his chance to take him out and make Beckett's life a living hell because she was not going to be able to stop him in time. It was like playing a board game and he had just won.

Ryan just pulled up in front of the hospital Alexis and Martha were looking everywhere for Kate. Spotting her they had questions on top of questions and Kate told them "Wait guys one at a time OK?" Alexis and Martha got quite quickly. Martha asked what his condition was Kate told them that he was in surgery. Alexis wanted to know what had happened, so Kate told her everything that went down. After explaining to them what was now going on they both took a seat and did what everyone else was doing,...waiting.

"Family of Mr. Castle" was called out from behind the double wooden doors. Everybody got up and turned towards the doctor that was walking towards them. I am sorry to report that Mr. Castle has lost a lot of blood and had to have his spleen, part of his liver and 4 feet of large intestine removed. He also has a collapsed lung and 3 broken ribs. But he will be placed in a medically induced coma for a period of about 10 days to give his body time to heal properly. But on top of that the gunshot to his left leg did major damage to his vastus muscle group. He might need additional surgeries after we assess his condition to be able to walk again. His close family can have 5 minutes with him in about an hour when he gets back from the recovery room. The doctor turns and goes back through the double wooden doors.

Kate, Ryan, Espo and Rodriquez all look at each other and are glad that he is still alive. Kate turns away and cries softly and goes to the wall leans against it and thinks how close she came to losing him today. Martha walks over to her and wraps her arm around her shoulders and asks "Kathrine whats wrong?"

"Martha I almost lost him today and it was all because I needed to catch that son of a bitch who killed my father."

"Kate you stop thinking like that right this instant, Richard knew exactly what the risks were and I am pretty damn sure that he would do it again without hesitation."

"Martha please tell Alexis that I am sorry for what happened to her father, but I need to leave this place.

Kate was torn between seeing Castle and dealing with everyone from the 12th. She walked and walked and before she knew it she was in a cemetery. Looking down at the headstones which were all too familiar to her she started talking to them...


	15. Chapter 15

"Hi Mom and Dad" I know it has been a while since I have been here, but I just needed to get something off my chest. I think that I might have caused Rick to get shot today. I was there for their plan to take down 3XK aka Jerry Tyson and from where I was, I could see that the plan that they had put together was tactically wrong in the way they had planned it. They never expected the wrath of Jerry Tyson. He killed one undercover officer and shot Rick 5 times.

"Do you want to know the worst thing?

"W_ell, I knew about their plan and I did nothing to help them until it was too late._

"What am I going to do?"

I won't be able to live with myself if he dies. I am the cause for what he is now fighting, he is fighting for his life. Kate stands there expecting some type of answer from the headstones so after about four minutes she raises her head and looks skyward thinking that she will get an answer from the heavens. It starts to rain and she drops her head down and quietly but solemnly leaves the cemetery. Walking in the rain, she wonders where they had gone wrong. One cop was dead and a civilian was clinging to his life. Deciding to return back to the hospital, she makes the thirty minute walk with no time to waste.

Walking through the front double E.R. Doors she in almost knocked over by a red ball of fury. Alexis had watched her walk into the E.R. and ran over to hug her, but she admitted that she was running a bit too fast to stop in time.

"Detective Beckett I am so sorry, I just wanted to know that you were okay."

"Alexis it's fine please there is no need to apologize to me OK?" "Is there any word on your father?"

Alexis looks at her like she is from the stone age. "Detective Beckett you haven't heard?"

Kate looks at her to see if there is something that she can read in the expression on her face. "Alexis what are you not telling me, please tell me whatever it is."

Ok well about an hour ago me and Grams were in his ICU Recovery room and we were just holding his hands when out of the blue he opened his eyes looked around and very coherently asked where you were. He was awake for a couple of minutes and he held a good conversation but his main focus was making sure that no harm had come to you.

_Why would he want to know if I was okay?_

"Alexis are you sure that he asked about me?"

"I am, detective."

"Was he still sedated and he had no clue about what he was saying?"

"No, the nurse said that most of the drugs in his body had already worn off from the surgery and that they were going to put him under in the induced come to let him heal."

"Thank-you Alexis."

"Detective Beckett do you want to see him?"

_I do, but I don't want to intrude, I just want to see him._

"Would it be alright Alexis?" She asked biting on her lower lip.

"I'm sure it will be fine."

Reaching to take her hand Alexis links their arms and they walk down the hallway...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Kate walks with Alexis down the hallway and then turns to enter Castles room, letting go of Alexis's arm she is terrified at what she now sees right in front of her. There are so many machines keeping him alive she almost falls apart right there. Alexis is speechless, she never thought he would look so bad.

Anne is the nurse that is assigned to Castle around the clock. Actually two nurses take care of his needs.

"Excuse me but can I ask who the two of you are?"

"Hi I am Alexis and this is Kate Beckett" Alexis answers.

"Oh well, in that case please come over here and see him." "it actually looks a lot worse than it is." "He is doing very well considering."

Kate thinks back to the recordings that Lanie had made and wondered what went wrong. He could have died there in the park. Trying to figure out this in her head she drifts away form where she is now.

"Kate are you okay."

Kate snaps out of her daydream and asks Alexis "What is it Alexis?"

Alexis tells her that "Anne said that when patients are in an induced coma it is just like being in a traumatic coma, they can hear what is going on around them." "So would you like some time with him?"

Kate just looks to Alexis and smiles, "Would you mind sweetie...?"

Kate looks at Rick, and tries to figure out where to start "Rick it's me Kate."

"I am going to do everything in my power to find the bastard that did this to you and put him so far into the ground that no one will find his sorry ass." "I am sorry that I had let you down I was aware of what you were going to do on my behalf, but you should have told me what was going to happen." "I feel that I could have prevented what happened today in the park" "Please forgive me and my stupidity." "It would kill me if you had left me before I was able to tell you what is so close to my heart, so please come back to me quickly."

Kate rises from the seat and turns to leave the room. What she does not know is that while Alexis had left she never had gone that far away and was standing behind the nylon curtain listening to just about every word she just said.

Walking back out to the waiting room, she sees Javi and Ryan. "Guys where are we on Tyson's location?"

"Kate he is in the wind" Ryan states.

"Okay Kevin get over to the warehouse you were at earlier today, CSU should just be wrapping up their sweep for evidence." "See if they found anything and I mean any little thing OK?"

"Javi I need you to shut this city down." "Tyson will not get out of here dead or alive." "Put him on and any of his aliases on the no fly list." "Then get his picture or description out to every precinct in the 5 boroughs and all major egress points within the city." "I want this prick in cuffs by midnight."

They were standing by the vending machines when Kate was barking out orders to find him, cleverly wearing his tool belt and baseball cap he was going through the motions of trying to repair a faulty power receptacle. They were so predictable...

He just needed to complete one more task and Beckett would be in agony for the rest of her life. Looking down to the three syringes, he had cleverly hidden in his tool belt they were used in many of the prisons to end a convicted prisoners life. The first syringe was a 20cc dose of sodium thiopental, the second syringe was filled with pancuronium, and the icing on the cake was the syringe filled with 50cc's of Potassium Chloride. At least Dr. Nieman had given him one last gift before she died. He just needed to make it count hoping that they would be leaving soon...


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Tyson watched as the detectives left to try and find him. His disguise had fooled them and now he needed to move fast. His time here was coming to an end and he needed to make it count. Castle had been a thorn in his side ever since the mess at the hotel in Brooklyn. He would get his revenge. First things first he needed to find a nurses changing room and blend in with the nursing staff. Finding a changing locker room he entered and selected a basic green scrub outfit. Changing out of his maintenance uniform he very carefully transferred the death cocktail from his tool belt to a black Velcro pouch.

Leaving the locker room, he walked out into the hallway and blended in with the staff. Getting to Castles room might be a problem after his first recon pass his room had no additional security to deal with, but he would not put in past the NYPD to have a cop outside his door. Rounding the corner he hesitated a second to see if they had did actually assigned men to guard him. Seeing that they had not thought he was a threat to Castle he walked quietly to his door. Stepping in he was giddy, because his vengeance was about to come full circle.

Looking at Castle lying there was a beautiful sight. He is happy in the way his rounds had hit him with pretty good accuracy. Seeing him in so much pain would be almost better than killing him. Walking over to his IV bag, he reached for the central line and took out his death cocktail. Having marked the syringes with medical tape with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 he pulled the first syringe out and uncapping it he tapped the plunger just enough to get the liquid flowing. Sticking the needle into the IV Port he presses the plunger on the syringe. The drug finds it's way into his veins and he then moves onto the next syringe. With the final dose, he steps back closer to the door to watch Castle react to the drugs he has given him.

As time goes by Tyson is starting to get worried because Castles reaction is not what should be happening. He walks back over to the bed and checks the line he had just injected the drugs into. Inspecting the line closely, he finds that there is a line block at the bottom of Castles IV line stopping the drugs from entering his body. He knows that there is something very wrong because the cops must have known that he would make an attempt on Castles life. Getting that nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach he turns to leave the room and before he can actually move his legs he hears the hammer of a Glock cock back. Stopping his movements the next words he hears is...

"Make a twitch and I will drop you right where you stand, so go ahead and try something because I have been waiting for this moment for 4 years."

Kate has her gun pointed right at Tyson's head and she is hoping he will try to make a move to escape.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Ryan and Javi come out from behind the curtain guns drawn and aimed at Tyson. Seeing that he is outnumbered, he drops Castles blocked IV. Raising his arms up Kate keeps her glock trained on him while Kevin holsters his gun and pulls out his cuffs. Kevin says to Tyson as he is placing the handcuffs on him "So Tyson I bet you never thought that you would be in this situation...did you?"

All Tyson could say was "How did I fail?"

Kate lowers her weapon after Tyson has been secured. Walking up to face him she makes the following statement "Gerald Tyson you are under arrest for the murders of James Beckett and Natalie Martinez." "Javi finish reading him his rights and get that scum out of my sight."

Kate walked over to Rick's bedside and looked down at him. He was still unconscious. Pulling up a chair she sat there for the next 5 hours hoping that he would come to. A quiet knock on the door startled her and when she saw Kevin poking his head inside. "Kate..."

"Whats up Kev?"

"I hate to do this but you need to head back to the 12th and file the report on Tyson."

"Okay, I will but can you give me a couple on more minutes?"

"For you Kate I'd give you the world."

She smiles and looks to Rick again "Don't worry Rick I'll only be gone for a little bit."

Sitting at her desk, she wraps up the last of the paper work recommending Tyson for the death penalty. Javi walks up to the side of her desk "Kate I need to apologize to you for the way I handled the op that got Castle shot."

"Javi I need to let you in on a little secret, it might be hard to take in but I knew about your op."

He looks at her with a hard look on his face "But how?"

"Lanie had recorded the meeting you had together in the morgue." She was worried that you did not let me in on what you were doing and played me the recording." "That's how I was there so quickly, I watched the whole op unfold right in front of me."

"Well, just the same I am sorry for the way things went."

"Javi there's no need because everything worked out in the end."

Getting up and giving him a soft hug she lets go and turns to leave.

Kate is home at the loft. It has been 5 months since they arrested Tyson in the hospital. The trial had just wrapped up and Tyson was found guilty of eight counts of first-degree murder and was sent to death row. Castle was finishing up his last physical therapy session and he was healing well. As she looks back at what she had lost she can only look forward to what the future might bring.

Castle walks into the loft and Kate never hears him call out her name. He walks up to the sectional sofa and stands right in front of her and she is still not seeing him. He whispers her name not wanting to startle her "Kate"

She looks over to him and he is in front of her on one knee looking very nervous.

"Rick whats going on, why are you on one knee?"

Then it hits her and she covers her mouth with her hand and her eyes start to glaze over.

"Kate can you just let me get through what I need to say?"

"Sure"

"Kate I have been in love with you since I first met you. I know that you are my one and only and I want to show you how much you mean to me." "Kathryn Houghton Beckett will you do me the honor of being my wife?"

Kate is floored she answers with the only answer he will accept.

"Yes Richard Alexander Castle I will marry you."

**A/N and with this chapter this short fic comes to an end. I have enjoyed the reviews both positive and negative and hope I have made you happy to read it. Thanks to all the readers who followed and faved. **


End file.
